I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
Showing posts with label Hiroshi Mizuhara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hiroshi Mizuhara. Show all posts
When it comes to Japan Railways, there has been one campaign of theirs that has stood out because of the glorious beauty of Kyoto and that one song which has accompanied the commercials for over thirty years. I'm hoping that whoever in the JR advertising department was behind the idea of using "My Favorite Things" got a major bonus for the idea. The cinematic version of "The Sound of Music" from where "My Favorite Things" originated is practically essential viewing in the junior high schools of Japan, so that particular song among the many others in there is well known to everyone. But now, the Japanese probably relate the song more to Kyoto than the original movie.
Of course, before Julie Andrews and the movie version became the huge hit, "The Sound of Music" originated as a stage musical in 1959 with Mary Martin in the starring role of Maria. I never knew all that much about Martin but I knew her son, Larry Hagman, as the infamous JR Ewing in the show "Dallas". And of course, there was his earlier role as the far nicer military man Tony in "I Dream of Jeannie".
For the record, I'll have you know that from the lyrics, my favourite things would be apple strudel and schnitzel with noodles. If these were available at a buffet, I would be a happy man. Now, the reason for me choosing this one is that although it wasn't specifically made for the Holidays, "My Favorite Things" has been a staple on the radio and mall speakers during the Xmas season. Personally, I used to remember my kindergarten teacher always playing this on the record player...most likely to sedate us.
I figure that if Rodgers and Hart have a ROY entry on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", then Rodgers and Hammerstein should get a shot as well. Anyways, what were the big hits in 1959 in Japan when "The Sound of Music" made its debut on Broadway?
As a J-moppet in the mid-1960s, there were two images on television that terrified me back under sofa cushions and behind my parents. One was the first face of Balok from the original "Star Trek" episode, "The Corbomite Maneuver".
Of course, I hadn't been aware of the episode at the time but terrifying Balok was used as the final still photo for the ending credits during the second season of "Star Trek". Not sure why my parents, who were never sci-fi fans, just happened to have the show on at the time when those credits popped up. I can only gather that they were getting back at me for filling up my diapers a little too often.
The other image that probably was responsible for me filling up my diapers was good ol' Rover from "The Prisoner". How does a white bouncy balloon become something this scary? I don't know but the producers pulled it off. It especially frightened me when Rover caught an errant Villager and the camera just had to show the victim screaming through the balloon.
"The Prisoner" starring Patrick McGoohan (whose face frankly scared me too) was one of those one-of-a-kind programs that has become legend despite only having a one-season run between September 1967 and February 1968. There was no way at the time that I could have understood the overarching philosophical and political themes at play. It was always Rover and that pre-commercial shot of Number 6's head racing toward the camera before prison bars stopped it. In fact, it wasn't until some fifteen years later when reruns of "The Prisoner" began playing on the local "The All-Night Show" that I could begin to understand what was really going on between Number 6 and all those Number 2s. And at the same time, I could also finally hear the theme song.
I only learned about this in the last few days but the composer for "The Prisoner" theme song was Ron Grainer who is already on KKP's Reminiscings of Youth series because of his work on the theme for "Doctor Who" which he accomplished with Delia Derbyshire. The other big surprise was that the original version of "The Prisoner" theme was a far more sedate deal known as "The Age of Elegance", and yep, it definitely sounded elegant, but show producer McGoohan was having none of that and he kept pushing Grainer to speed it up (I guess "Faster...more intense" wasn't just George Lucas' mantra). It finally did speed up to become this boss and very 1960s brassy tour de force tune that was unlike anything for James Bond or Napoleon Solo. The British always did brass right back in the day. I guess in a way, the theme was reflective of Number 6 himself: elegant, fast, brash and cunning.
By the way, I've been hearing rumours that Christopher Nolan may be interested in doing a cinematic version of "The Prisoner". If there's any director who can pick up on the challenge, it would be Nolan although I wasn't quite as enthused about "Tenet". Anyways, who was picking up on the Japan Record Awards hardware in 1967?
Grand Prize: Jackey Yoshikawa and His Blue Comets -- Blue Chateau（ブルー・シャトウ）
I distinctly remember where I was forty years ago when I learned about the assassination of John Lennon on December 8th 1980. Of course, there was no SNS or Internet back then, so I actually didn't learn about the tragic death for several hours after he'd been shot in New York City at around 5 pm on the 8th and then later died in hospital at around 11 pm that night.
As I said, I remember quite well where I was and that was just ambling into the living room in my pajamas after getting out of bed on the morning of December 9th and my mother told me as I was approaching the table for breakfast, "John Lennon is dead". With a combination of sunrise stupor and truly not realizing the import of the statement since I wasn't a humongous Beatles fan, I kinda went "Wut?" She repeated the sentence again and at the time, though I knew about the Fab Four and some of their songs (one of my earliest memories was watching "Yellow Submarine" on CBS years previously), I hadn't been totally cognizant of who the members were, although the name John Lennon did register somewhat in my head. But then, I realized that the Toronto radio station CKEY, which was our go-to station at the time, was playing a lot of Beatles songs that day from our pink SONY.
I don't remember the television news coverage but I do have a memory of one newspaper front page with a photo of a devastated Yoko Ono, almost looking like she was about to collapse. And there were the vigils near The Dakota apartments where Lennon and Ono had resided.
Did I become a diehard Beatles fan or even a Lennon fan because of what had happened? No, not really. At most, I can say that I am a casual fan of the Beatles and I like some of what Lennon had created. "Imagine" is actually not my favourite song by him. If I were to pick one, it would be either "Starting Over" or "Nobody Told Me". However, after he died, I became much more aware of what the Beatles meant to people all around the planet and I even decided to listen to part of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" during my lunch break at junior high school one day. Eventually, I started appreciating songs back in their early days and even during their later, more psychedelic years as the 1980s progressed .
I've been hearing the news that Ringo Starr has been asking radio stations to play "Strawberry Fields Forever" at least once today in commemoration of Lennon's passing. I'm obviously not a radio station but I've known about the song for years and to be perfectly honest, it's the first time that I've heard the February 1967 song by Lennon in its entirety for the first time in a very long time. Basically, the opening verses of "Strawberry Fields Forever" have stuck in my head, but listening to the whole thing and watching the video as shown at the top of the article, this must have been a real mind-bender for folks who first heard this in the late 1960s. For me, of course, instead of this being a Reminiscings of Youth article, it's much more of a Barely Reminiscing of Toddlerhood article, but even hearing just "Strawberry Fields Together" with all of the very unconventional progressions of the song in general, the usage of the horns and strings, the feelings of innocence and darkness within its four-minutes-and-change, and that way-out outro, I can believe it when fans and music critics alike state that McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Starr really impacted the way pop music was created and presented.
So, when "Strawberry Fields Forever" made its debut in February 1967, what was also coming out in Japan? I could only find two songs that have already been covered in KKP.
If I'm not mistaken, the first Hiroshi Mizuhara（水原弘）article was for his big hit "Tasogare no Beguine"（黄昏のビギン）from 1959.
Well, this time, I'm taking care of the flip side which was actually the A-side of the 45", "Kuroi Ochiba"(Black Fallen Leaves). Written and composed by same duo behind "Tasogare no Beguine", lyricist Rokusuke Ei（永六輔）and composer Hachidai Nakamura（中村八大）, this song is more of the conventional bluesy Mood Kayo about some poor guy walking the streets of Ginza without anyone hanging onto his arm anymore while the leaves are coming down (I guess the area was a lot a leafier in those days). The title says it right there...falling leaves or anything autumnal in the kayo and it'll usually be about lost love.
It's just a karaoke cover at the very top and an empty karaoke version (happily, found the original now for the latter) here but I still wanted to have this represented on the blog, if only to provide a Mood Kayo that doesn't involve life in a bar or sung flirtation.
Most likely over the next several months, there will be box collections of the works of lyricist Rokusuke Ei coming out in the major music stores. I just found out this morning that Ei had passed away last week at the age of 83. So the Creator article this time will be as much a tribute to the man as it will be a look at his songs.
Rokusuke Ei was born in 1933 in the district of Moto-Asakusa, Tokyo, and along with his title of lyricist, he was also a radio personality, an essayist and a tarento although according to the NHK report on his death, he far preferred being behind a radio mike over being in front of a TV camera. In fact, his J-Wiki article mentioned that he truly loved the medium of radio; one piece of information stated that after high school, he and a group of friends got together to buy various parts in Akihabara to create their own crystal radio set. The leader of that group just happened to be the late actor Kiyoshi Atsumi（渥美清）who would gain his own legend through his famous character of Tora-san.
But when the NHK report started, the song that played is arguably the one that he is the most famous for, "Ue wo Muite Arukou"（上を向いて歩こう）by Kyu Sakamoto（坂本九）from 1961. Ei wrote this evergreen tune about smiling through the tears with his frequent songwriting partner, Hachidai Nakamura（中村八大）, who had left this mortal coil more than 20 years previously in 1992.
However, he and Nakamura got their songwriting tandem started in 1959 when they created the Mood Kayo"Kuroi Hanabira"（黒い花びら...Black Petals） for kayo singer Hiroshi Mizuhara（水原弘）. It was also a first for Mizuhara in that it was the singer's debut single. The combination was sweet for all concerned..."Kuroi Hanabira" won the Grand Prize at the very first Japan Record Awards in that same year.
The Ei/Nakamura duo had more success into the 1960s with another kayo standard, "Konnichiwa Akachan"（こんにちは赤ちゃん）from 1963 sung by Michiyo Azusa（梓みちよ）. As I mentioned in the article for that song, Ei wrote the words for Nakamura as a present of sorts in celebration of the upcoming birth of Nakamura's child.
Another composer who often worked with Ei was Taku Izumi（いずみたく）. Together they created another kayo classic in the form of "Ii Yu da na"（いい湯だな）in 1966 for the vocal group Duke Aces（デューク・エイセス）. Afterwards, the song was further immortalized as the ending theme for the very long-running variety series featuring comedy group The Drifters, "Hachi-ji da yo! Zen'in Shuugo!"（8時だよ！全員集合...It's 8 O'Clock! Everyone Assemble!）Considering how beloved onsen are in Japan, I would think that this song has triggered a Pavlovian craving for folks to head over to Hakone and other hot spring-laden resorts.
In the J-Wiki article on Ei, it said that although the songwriter liked some specific enka tunes, he wasn't a huge fan of the genre, generally speaking. And yet, he created one of Saburo Kitajima's（北島三郎）signature songs, "Kaero kana"（帰ろかな...Shall I Go Home?）for release in April 1965. An article for the song has yet to be written up on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" so I will keep things brief here and just say that Ei and Nakamura managed to create an anthemic mountain-moving ballad for Sabu-chan that has been performed at no less than 7 of the Kohaku Utagassen specials, and most if not all of them probably ended the show in epic paper snow blizzards.
I'm uncertain whether Ei kept to a fixed theme when it came to writing lyrics for songs but just from looking back on some of these kayo here, I would guess that the lyricist liked to reflect specifically on the Japanese heart whether it dealt with the simple pleasures of soaking in a hot spring or keeping that smile up even during the most heartbreaking of times.
I may have heard it on that NHK report and I definitely did read it in the J-Wiki article but Ei stopped being a lyricist for the most part after 1969. According to that article, he had apparently been afraid that once anything got onto television, it would simply get trendy for that fact and perhaps not for the quality of the song itself. But the main reason was that Ei wanted to put his priorities on having Nakamura and Izumi more as friends than also as collaborating colleagues in the music industry. Perhaps he didn't like the stresses of songwriting wearing on their mutual friendships, and besides, it seems as if Ei had a lot of other interests to pursue to keep him happy. I'm not a religious man but I hope that Ei has now reunited with his old friends, Nakamura and Izumi (who also passed away in 1992) to talk about the old days. Meanwhile, I'm sure that there will be people here, famous or not, who will converse on and sing those nostalgic tunes at karaoke or the bars.
I'll leave you with a rendition of another Ei classic also from 1963, "Miagetegoran Yoru no Hoshi wo"（見上げてごらん夜の星を）, originally sung by Kyu Sakamoto.
First things first, J-Canuck has already done an article on this Mood Kayo classic, so you can check it out here.
Anyway, I had finally a good listen to Hiroshi Mizuhara's (水原弘) voice via his comeback hit, "Kimi Koso Waga Inochi". Sure I had heard him here and there with songs like "Tasogare no Beguine" and "Kuroi Hanabira" (those 2 have also already been profiled), but I never actually listened. Boy did I miss out on his fruity, smooth but at times husky voice! As you know, I very much enjoy singers who sing at a lower pitch, say around baritone to bass, so Mizuhara basically represents my preference well.
Other than the music, composed by Kosho Inomata (猪俣公章), that is jaunty and quintessentially 60's starting with the blare of the trumpet - reminds me of Takuya Jou's (城卓矢) "Hone Made Aishite" (骨まで愛して) - the lyrics by Kouhan Kawauchi (川内康範) are what makes me like this classic even more. As what J-Canuck had mentioned in his article, the song basically puts how much our protagonist loves his girl into words. Let me give you some examples:
Anata wo honto wa sagashi te ta I've been searching all over for you Anata ni hitomi ni niji o mita I see the rainbows in your eyes
And let's not forget...
Kimi koso inochi kimi koso inochi waga inochi You are life, you are life, my life
More emphasis on the 'my' part. A rather sweet set of lyrics with the fellow gushing about his feelings, especially on that rainbow part... ... That must be some lady. But it's the sappiness that I like since I'm a sucker for such things, and the bonus is that the lyrics of these songs are generally easier to decipher.
Before listening and reading up on "Kimi Koso Waga Inochi", I had always thought that Mood Kayo crooner Mizuhara would have a barrage of hits throughout the 60's, which seemed to be the genre's golden age. And I mean, he had a great voice for it. On the contrary, after his debut hit "Kuroi Hanabira", Mizuhara had a long dry spell that lasted for nearly 10 years albeit having some of his singles being used as theme songs for TV shows and movies. Until this faithful song came along in 1967. "Kimi Koso Waga Inochi" was so well received it eventually got dubbed as Mizuhara's "Miracle comeback" and allowed the fellow to receive the 'Singing Prize' during the 9th Japan Record Awards. He also sang this song 3 times at the Kohaku: in 1967, 1969 and 1973.
I've seen many covers of "Kimi Koso Waga Inochi" - not surprising here - but the one I usually come across and actually like is Shinichi Mori's (森進一) rendition of it. Although I don't listen to the guy often, I must admit he did a fine job... you'd expect it to be different in terms of its delivery since Mori's voice is a lot higher and huskier in comparison to Mizuhara's, but it worked out well. (I'm afraid Mori's rendition has been deleted but below is Yujiro Ishihara's cover.)
And as for where I first heard "Kimi Koso Waga Inochi" - it wasn't the original by the way - it was from Mae-Kiyo... or at least half of it before Mori came in for the next part (which was also where I first got a taste of Mori's cover). I think Mae-Kiyo's voice suits the song a little better. Okay, I could be biased on this one.
I had actually wanted to do this article earlier, but then I felt that I should save it for today. After all, it is a special day... ... No, it's not my birthday.
Anyway, let me introduce to you 'Awazu ni Aishite' ('Love when we meet' ?), the Hiroshi Uchiyamada &Cool Five (内山田洋とクール・ファイブ) hit that seemed to - or always - constantly be overshadowed by its golden predecessor, 'Nagasaki wa kyomo ame datta' (長崎は今日も雨だった).
Released on the 5th of December 1969, the Mood Kayo group's 3rd single actually had some similarities to their debut song in terms of music, especially the first instance you hear that saxophone part in the beginning. And I'm quite sure it's because it was composed by the same guy who did the 'Nagasaki' song, Masao Saiki (彩木雅夫). As for the lyrics, they were done by the late Kouhan Kawauchi (川内康範).
But despite some similarities, it sounds a lot more cheerful than the 'Nagasaki' song which sounded really lonely (intended). However, I'm not sure if 'Awazu ni Aishite' is actually a cheerful song since with most Enka and Mood Kayo songs, happy/happier tune may not equal to happy meaning.
The song did well and was the only Cool Five single to place 1st on the Oricon charts and stayed there for 3 weeks (last 2 weeks of February and 1st week of March) in 1970 selling about 1.2 million copies. Yeah, so it had some time in the limelight. Unfortunately, out of The Cool Five's11 appearances and Kiyoshi Maekawa's (前川 清)18 appearances on the Kohaku, the song was never sung at the annual year-end competition. Now that I think of it, I rarely, if ever, see Mae-Kiyo sing this song solo either.
Mae-Kiyo's wife for a year Keiko Fuji(藤 圭子) and late Jazz and Kayokyoku singer Hiroshi Mizuhara (水原 弘) did their own renditions of this song as well. Video below is Omizu's version, which is slower in pace than the original. I've heard Fuji's version before on YouTube a few months back, but the video got deleted (this is starting to get really annoying), but I'm sure she pulled it off well with that low and husky voice of hers.
Oh wait, I found Fuji's version, its in the link below. And yeah, a little more bluesy than The Cool Five's version in terms of music. Wow, she really had such a husky voice... (Edited)
*Sigh*, according to Mom, my Grandpa used to listen to Mood Kayo-like songs (in Mandarin or Cantonese, that is), and that he liked the Chinese version of 'Awazu ni Aishite' quite a bit. Liked. It has been 10 years. He would be 77 or 78 this year today, September 17. You know, would... ...
Of course, when I'm asked about the key musical instruments for the enka genre, koto and shamisen come to mind immediately. However, when some of the traditional kayo kyoku head over to that enka/Mood Kayo border, my favourite instrument is that bright trumpet. Being also a bit of an old jazz fan, I've often thought that Harry James may have been the patron saint for those Japanese trumpeters behind some of the more famous Mood Kayo tunes.
Tonight, when I saw "Kayo Concert"（歌謡コンサート）, I got to hear another wonderful song of the genre punctuated by that brass titled "Kimi Koso Waga Inochi" (You Are Truly My Life). It was originally sung by the late Hiroshi Mizuhara (水原弘...my 2nd posting on him in as many weeks), and it's a ballad about how happy the protagonist is on actually finding the love of his life. Released in February 1967, it was written by Kohan Kawauchi （川内康範）and composed by Kosho Inomata（猪俣公章）. As much as it's wonderful to hear some guy head over heels in love, it's the the trumpet that wins me over.
Mizuhara won the Grand Prize in Singing at the Japan Record Awards that year along with getting to appear on the Kohaku Utagassen for not only 1967, but also for 1969 and 1973.
When I was going down the YouTube scroll for this song, I saw a familiar face (namely the one above) singing "Kimi Koso Waga Inochi". I couldn't place the face nor the kanji that made up his name, but when I checked out J-Wiki, I realized that Ryotaro Sugi （杉良太郎）was a mainstay on all those jidaigeki programs, including his role as the original Suke-san, one of the loyal members surrounding the disguised Lord Mito from "Mito Komon"（水戸黄門）. Along with his career as an actor, Sugi has also been singing since 1965 with his "Sugi Ryotaro no Kimi Koso Waga Inochi" coming out in 2006.
According to J-Wiki, on top of his entertainment career, Sugi has also had quite a few titles in the diplomatic corps. He's a director for a Japan-Vietnam friendship society and a Ministry of Foreign Affairs special ambassador to that country, an honourary mayor of Honolulu and even a Chairman Emeritus for a cultural association between Japan and Singapore.
The following is what I got from the pertinent article on Wikipedia:
"A Beguine was originally a Christian lay woman of the 13th or 14th century living in a religious community without formal vows, but in the creole of the Caribbean, especially in Martinique and Guadeloupe, the term came to mean "white woman", and then to be applied to a style of music and dance, and in particular a slow, close couples' dance. This combination of French ballroom dance and Latin folk dance became popular in Paris and spread further abroad in the 1940s, largely due to the influence of the Porter song."
Now, for years and years, I had always wondered what a beguine was solely because of the famous Cole Porter song, "Begin The Beguine". It's a wonderful tune that seems to sweep one across the floor, musically speaking. Just from that previous statement, I should've figured that it was some sort of dance. As it is a standard, it's been covered over and over again, but my favourite version is the one that I first heard of the song....the one by Ann Margret on one of my old records.
My impression is that the Japanese also fell in love with the word "beguine" and "Begin The Beguine". A number of the kayo kyoku vets have covered it, and I recall seeing the song covered by the entire cadre of singers at the 1983 Kohaku Utagassen for the big ensemble performance that used to be a staple on the annual NHK special (I don't think I've seen Hiromi Iwasaki laughing so hard before or since when two old-timer enka singers managed to wrangle out the last couple of words at the end).
Well, way back when, Japanese songwriters, specifically Rokusuke Ei and Hachidai Nakamura(永六輔・中村八大...the same duo behind "Ue wo Muite Arukou", decided to bring in their own beguine song. Titled "Tasogare no Beguine" (Sunset Beguine), Ei and Nakamura may have had a Eureka moment when the title finally coalesced in their minds since tasogare has also been a favourite word to apply with song titles.
I first heard it on this past week's episode of NHK's "Kayo Concert" (it was quite a bumper crop of songs I enjoyed that night) and then the next day, I even managed to find the original 45" record (from October 1959) in my Dad's ancient collection. When I played the old vinyl on the Onkyo, there was some scratch on the sound (which rather added some flavour to the proceedings) but that same sort of Latin sweep that "Begin The Beguine" had could also be heard with "Tasogare no Beguine". Then there were the silky vocals with a bit of husk by the late singer Hiroshi Mizuhara （水原弘）who led the dance like the self-assured studio instructor. I was also partially reminded of "The Continental", which Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers had danced to on "The Gay Divorcee" back in 1936. Although the song melodically described a romantic beguine, the lyrics related the story of a romantic couple walking in the rain on the bright streets of Tokyo.
"Tasogare no Beguine" was actually the B-side to Mizuhara's performance of "Kuroi Ochiba"（黒い落葉...Black Fallen Leaves） which was also created by Ei and Nakamura, but considering what I've heard and read about the former tune, "Tasogare no Beguine" probably has the larger and longer legacy.
As for Mizuhara, the Tokyo-born singer debuted in 1957 (when he was around 22) as the first vocalist for Danny Iida and The Paradise Kings, a band which focused on Hawaiian songs. He left the band the following year but then launched a solo career in July 1959 with the hit "Kuroi Hanabira" (黒い花びら...Black Flower Petals...also by Ei and Nakamura) which would eventually sell over 500,000 copies and earned him the Grand Prize at the first Japan Record Awards. A few months later, he would sing "Tasogare no Beguine" while the A-side of "Kuroi Ochiba" would be the 2nd in his "Kuroi"-titled songs.
His debut song would also be his ticket for the first of 10 appearances at the Kohaku Utagassen, ranging from 1959 to 1973. And during that time, he would also cover a couple of Xmas classics, "White Christmas" and "Blue Christmas" (there must have been something about colours he liked). Sadly, he would pass away at the young age of 42 in 1978.
Over 30 years later, Naomi Chiaki （ちあきなおみ）would cover both "Tasogare no Beguine" and "Kuroi Hanabira" on the second-last single she would release up to now in June 1991. Her version of "Tasogare no Beguine" is a slower ballad with the throaty and earthy tones that also made her "Kassai"（喝采）a standard. This particular take on the standard got as high as No. 86 on the Oricon weeklies.
As I was listening to Chiaki's cover, I immediately wondered how Akina Nakamori （中森明菜）would tackle this one since she has developed her own throaty vocals. I didn't have to wonder too long; Akina did her own cover on her 2002 album, "Zero Album -- Utahime 2"（歌姫２...Diva 2）which peaked at No. 10.
To finish off, here is my favourite version of "Begin The Beguine" by Ann Margret. And if any of you love your beefcake, this is your video.
